"There is so much writing in English on Japanese cinema that can't be accepted at face value — not because the writers are careless, but because the differences in culture and language are just too intricate. When I see August Ragone's name on a piece of writing, it gives me permission to place my faith in it completely. Among Japanese fantasy film historians, he's the best working in English."—Tim Lucas, Video Watchdog

Friday, January 11, 2013

With the fourth installment of the SPACE BATTLESHIP YAMATO: 2199 saga, "Defense of the Galactic March", opening in twelve select cinemas across Japan this weekend (two additional from the previous releases), the official YAMATO: 2199 website has announced the release of the fifth theatrical feature, "The Sorrow of Intergalactic Space", featuring Episodes 15-18, opening April 14, 2013. The Blu-ray and DVD release will follow on May 28th.

Dynamic torpedoes away slipcase art by veteran Naoyuki Kato!

The home video release of Volume 5 will contain a total of four half-hour episodes (15-18), plus a selection of special features, clocking in at 130 minutes of content for ¥8,190 for the Blu-ray (BCXA-0489, Region-free) and ¥7,140 for the DVD (BCBA-4320, Region 2). The DVD will be presented in 16:9 Anamorphic, Dual Layer, and Dolby Digital Stereo. Conversely, the Blu-ray will be presented in AVCHD, BD50G, 1080p, 16:9 Anamorphic, and Linear PCM Stereo.

Special Features will include a conversation between director Yutaka Izubuchi and original Sound Effects Designer Mitsuru Kashiwabara, an Audio Commentary with voice actors TBA and director Izubuchi, Chapter 3 Digest, Theatrical Trailers 1, and a special insert booklet. Both releases will feature the same jacket art by character designer Nobuteru Yuuki, and a slipcase by legendary Yamato illustrator, Naoyuki Kato. While the DVD contains all of the same extras, only the Blu-ray boasts the most special feature of all: English Subtitles.

The Yamato continues on it's voyage to Iscandar as it makes it's way deeper into Gamilas territory, towards the mid-way point, planet Balun. General Domel regroups his forces to meet the Yamato head-on — while members of the crew begin to plot against Captain Okita. Will all be lost? These new episodes will be expanding beyond the original 1974 story, so we can all look forward to this fresh and fully-realized remake of SPACE BATTLESHIP YAMATO!

The episodes on Volume 5 will include:

HERE BE SPOILERS: WARING! WARING! WARING!

Episode 15. THE POINT OF NO RETURN (帰還限界点): General Domel continues his relentless attacks against the embattled Yamato, while crew begins to voice their unrest over the feasibility of the "Yamato Plan". The Yamato quickly warps in order to dodge a Gamilas recon squadron, but warps out into the middle of a large Gamilas fleet — all an elaborate trap sprung by Domel himself.

Episode 16. ALTERNATIVE FUTURES (未来への選択): Bloodied but unbowed, the Yamato stops to resupply at Beemera, a planet with an environment closely matching that of the Earth — suitable for human migration. While Kodai leads a survey mission, the growing and restless anti-"Yamato Plan" faction aboard the ship breaks out in revolt. What will be the fate of Captain Okita and XO Sanada, whose very lives are threatened by the mutineers?

Episode 17. FROM THE FOREST OF MEMORIES (記憶の森から): Kodai returns from the ruins on Beemera with valuable data. By leveraging a Subspace Gate left by the planet's lost civilization, the possibility that a vast span of tens of thousands of light years may be achieved in a single leap. Kodai, Sanada, and Yuki go into the Satellite System in order to restart the gate, but...

Episode 18. TRANSCEND THE DWINDLING LIGHT (昏き光を越えて): Successfully engaging the Subspace Gate from Beemera, the Yamato arrives at planet Balun. A massive flotilla of Gamilas warships, numbering more than 10,000, has also gathered there. But, to reach the Large Magellanic Cloud, they must pass through Balun's Gate. Okita decides to flirt with death by making a break for it — by plunging straight through the Gamilas flotilla.

You can pre-order your copy of SPACE BATTLESHIP YAMATO: 2199 Volume 5, by clicking here to visit Amazon Japan (with English language support)! Stay tuned to this blog and the Cosmo DNA website for more news and information on SPACE BATTLESHIP YAMATO: 2199 as they develop — and soon, we'll be off to outer space, on shiny discs of blue!

ADDENDUM: In April 2013, the titles for Episodes 17 and 18 were officially announced as changed from those previously released and published on my blog. Those changes have been reflected, above, and the previous titles are noted, below: Episode 17: ENGRAVED WORDS, SLEEPING PAST (眠れる過去 刻まれた言葉) and Episode 18: OPERATION: BALUN BREAKTHROUGH (バラン星突破作戦).

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Two-time Rondo Award-winning author of EIJI TSUBURAYA: MASTER OF MONSTERS. August has commented on Japanese film and popular culture on radio, television, in print, online, and at events for more than three decades. As a teen, he served as Horror Host Bob Wilkins' "Japanese Film" & "Godzilla Expert" at KTVU TV-2. And has lectured at Lucasfilm.

He has contributed liner notes for numerous DVD releases, edited and authored over 150 subtitle scripts, and written for periodicals such as Japanese Fantasy Film Journal, Filmfax. Video Watchdog, Asian Cult Cinema, Henshin! Online, Oriental Cinema, G-Fan, Super7, Otaku USA, and Famous Monsters of Filmland.

As an events promoter, the San Francisco-born native hosted the "Japanese Fantasy Film Faire" (1979), the first Anime & Tokusatsu event outside of Japan, and has gone on to produce live music and multi-media events including The Sleazefest, Incredibly Strange Wrestling, The Greaseball, Godzillafest, and Shock It To Me!.